Donaldson Wins Botvinnik Award

International Master John Donaldson has been awarded the prestigious “Mikhail Botvinnik Award” by FIDE for his work as trainer and Captain of U.S. teams in international competition.

Donaldson, as the FIDE press release notes, has long served as Captain for U.S. teams in both Olympiads and World Team events. His steadying presence has been lauded by team members, and one cannot argue with the results: the U.S. team has won Gold and Silver in the last two Olympiads, and Donaldson piloted a weakened team in the 2019 World Teams to a surprising fifth place finish.

2018 US Olympiad Team

Theodore Lyng poses with US teams (photo Llada)

US Chess congratulates John Donaldson on this well-deserved recognition.

For more on Donaldson, check out his interviews with Ben Johnson at the Perpetual Chess Podcast: https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2019/9/17/episode-143-im-john-donaldson-returns https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/new-blog/2018/1/9/episode-54-im-john-donaldson